Flying boats through the years

June 7, 2013 |By AUBREY COHEN

Mostly out of use today, flying boats were once mainstay of aviation

Keystone/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

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By 1947, the U.S. government had spent $22 million on the H-4 and Howard Hughes had spent $18 million of his own money. It finally flew, for the first and only time, on Nov. 2, 1947. Here's Hughes at the controls for the flight.

Keystone/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

25of32

By 1947, the U.S. government had spent $22 million on the H-4 and Howard Hughes had spent $18 million of his own money. It finally flew, for the first and only time, on Nov. 2, 1947. Here's Hughes at the controls for the flight.